Bai Yuan jumped down from the train looking completely baffled, followed by the two drivers who exchanged confused looks.
Right in front of them, the train engine suddenly floated into the air, as if an invisible giant hand had lifted it up. It flipped once midair, exposing its underside. A large metal plate slid open, and from inside, two strange round cylinders floated out.
They were, of course—AA batteries.
Li Daoxuan plucked the two spent batteries out of the model train and replaced them with fresh ones. Click, click. He sealed the compartment shut, set the locomotive back in place, and the toy train was once again neatly aligned on its tracks.
"Looks like it's good to go," Bai Yuan muttered as he saw the train engine reconnect smoothly with its cars. When Dao Xuan Tianzun didn't make any further movement from the sky, he climbed back into the cab along with the two drivers.
The train whistled and began moving again, wheels clicking smoothly on the rails.
Bai Yuan suddenly realized something. "So those two little cylinders the Tianzun switched out… they're what make this immortal train run! If I could figure out how to make those things myself, then even without Tianzun's help…"
A huge sheet of paper appeared in the sky, bearing six bold words: "Learn to walk before you fly."
Bai Yuan froze, then cupped his hands in embarrassment. "My apologies—this humble one was too arrogant."
Not long after, the train arrived at Gaojia Village. Bai Yuan disembarked to transfer to one of the solar buses heading for Chengcheng County.
As he walked from the train station toward the bus stop, a group of blacksmiths rushed out from the smithy. Leading them was Gao Yiyi, followed by Li Da and Song Yingxing. In their hands, they were carrying a peculiar-looking firearm.
Bai Yuan's curiosity flared immediately. "Hey, what are you all up to?"
Gao Yiyi grinned. "Ah, Bai-xiansheng! You came at the perfect time. We're heading to test the new musket. Want to tag along?"
"A new musket?" Bai Yuan's eyes lit up. "Heh, I'm in."
He abandoned his plan to head for the county and joined the blacksmiths, heading toward the village's Firearms Bureau.
When they arrived, Xu Dafu and Cheng Xu were already waiting on the testing field—a cleared patch of ground used for weapon trials.
Seeing everyone assembled, Bai Yuan could sense the tension and excitement in the air. "Looks like today's going to be interesting."
Gao Yiyi stepped forward, presenting a long gun with both hands. "This, gentlemen, is the niaochong—the bird gun—crafted according to diagrams provided by Mr. Song Yingxing himself. It's far better than the old triple-barrel guns."
A seasoned musketman stepped out from behind Cheng Xu—one of the squad leaders of the former three-barrel team. He hefted the new gun in his hands. "Hmm. It's lighter… and the barrel's longer."
Song Yingxing smiled modestly. "A longer barrel means greater accuracy. The three-barrel gun was basically point-and-pray, but this one can actually hit flying birds. Hence the name niaochong."
Even the veteran blacksmith Li Da looked impressed. "Enough talk—let's see how it shoots!"
The musketman took a pre-measured paper cartridge of gunpowder from Xu Dafu, poured it down the barrel, tamped it tight with the ramrod, then loaded a small lead ball and tamped again. He lit the matchcord, opened the pan, pulled the trigger—
Bang!
Smoke burst from the muzzle, echoing across the valley.
A hundred paces away, dust and stone exploded from the cliff wall.
The blacksmiths were stunned. "That far?! Impossible!"
The shooter laughed out loud. "Ha! It beats the triple-barrel by a mile! That old junk barely reached twenty meters. This one hits a hundred paces easy! Finally—finally, we're useful again!"
Song Yingxing nodded, though his scholarly face turned slightly thoughtful. "True, it's powerful. But its flaws remain. When firing, the flash pan's flame often blows out the priming powder. Flint pans crack easily, and after one shot, mounted enemies can close in before you reload. Even the later bamboo bird-beak guns and self-sealing pans were only temporary improvements—still cumbersome."
The others fell silent.
Then Song Yingxing pulled out another firearm from behind his back. "So, we improved it again. With the Tianzun's guidance, I've designed this—the flintlock musket. The spring drives a clamp holding a flint, striking the steel frizzen to spark ignition. No more matchcord, no open pans."
He handed the new gun to the shooter. "Try this one."
The soldier went through the same loading routine—powder, lead ball, tamping—but this time, instead of fumbling with a lit match, he simply aimed, steadied his breath, and squeezed the trigger.
BOOM!
Smoke bloomed again. A puff of dust marked the cliff—another clean hit.
Song Yingxing broke into a smile. "Success!"
Cheers erupted around him. "It worked! It really worked!"
"One pull of the trigger and it fires instantly!"
"So fast! So efficient!"
Song Yingxing was glowing. For a man of science, this moment—the birth of something new—was a thrill like no other.
Still, after a pause, he sighed. "But even so, this won't stop the Jianzhou cavalry. The reload time is still too slow. By the time one volley is fired, their horsemen will already be upon us."
Bai Yuan raised his brows. "Then what about General Mu Ying's three-rank volley tactic? Couldn't that fix the slow rate of fire?"
Song Yingxing shook his head. "Not really. Three-rank volley fire demands vast numbers of muskets and highly disciplined coordination. It needs money—lots of it—and months of drilling. Most Ming soldiers simply can't manage that. It works on paper, yes, but in reality… almost never."
He sighed again, patting the flintlock's stock. "Still… it's a start."
Ming Context:
Firearms like the niaochong (matchlock musket) were widely used in the late Ming, especially against the Manchu cavalry. However, logistical limits and poor training often reduced their effectiveness, leading to tactical reforms such as Mu Ying's "three-rank volley."
Trivia:
Song Yingxing, dubbed the "Chinese Da Vinci," really did write Tiangong Kaiwu—a scientific encyclopedia detailing gunpowder, metallurgy, and more. The flintlock concept here is a creative anachronism, blending his inventive spirit with Li Daoxuan's divine tech!